Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit marked their silver wedding anniversary on Tuesday with never-before-seen family photos. The monarch post included a rare picture of Marius Borg Høiby, even as King Harald remains in the National Hospital and Høiby’s appeal moves through the Norwegian courts.
The royal house released a new photo of the couple standing together in a garden and added throwback images from their 2001 honeymoon to Long Island in the US. One caption read, “Congratulations on the silver wedding anniversary of the Crown Prince and Crown Princess!” while a second post was labeled “grateful.”
Long Island honeymoon photos
The anniversary set reached beyond a single portrait. It moved from the garden image to personal photographs from the couple’s honeymoon, a sequence that placed family memory at the center of the public post rather than a formal palace pose.
One of those images carried the sharpest detail: in the fourth picture, Marius Borg Høiby sat on the Crown Prince’s shoulders while the pair swam in the sea. The child in that image is now the figure at the center of a high-profile trial and a prison sentence.
Marius Borg Høiby in the frame
Høiby was found guilty of two counts of rape in June and sentenced to four years in prison. He joined the court session via video link, has been under house arrest at Skaugum since July, and his appeal is now working its way through the Norwegian courts.
The royal couple had already been seen visiting him in custody before his sentencing in June. Haakon said, “It has been challenging and difficult for everyone.” He also said, “For our part, we will continue to carry out our duties. Everyone involved in the case has found it challenging and difficult.”
King Harald and the palace
The anniversary release also lands while King Harald remains in the National Hospital amid concern about his deteriorating health. The family’s public tone stayed formal, but the choice to include Høiby placed a private relationship back into the open at the same moment the royal house was marking 25 years of marriage.
For readers tracking the family’s public role, the immediate consequence is that the anniversary photos are not just ceremonial. They also show how the royal house is handling a difficult family moment in public, while Høiby’s appeal continues through the Norwegian courts.
